Abbey of Saint Gall

The Abbey of Saint Gall is a dissolved abbey in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery has existed since 719 and became an independent principality between 9th and 13th centuries, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had erected his hermitage. The library of the Abbey is one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. The city of St. Gallen originated as an adjoining settlement of the abbey. Following the secularization of the abbey around 1800 the former Abbey church became a Cathedral in 1848. Since 1983 the whole remaining abbey precinct has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Around 613 Gallus, according to tradition an Irish monk and disciple and companion of Saint Columbanus, established a hermitage on the site that would become the monastery. He lived in his cell until his death in 646, and was buried there in Arbon. Afterwards, the people venerated him as a saint and prayed at his tomb for his intercession in times of danger.